All the latest research on psychology, psychiatry and mental health summarised in plain English.

Thursday, October 29, 2009

ADHD and crime

Children with ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) are more likely to become criminals as they get older. Researchers from Yale School of Public Health studied more than 10,000 people and found that children with ADHD were twice as likely to commit theft in later life and had a 50% higher incidence of selling drugs. This is the first study to link ADHD with an increased propensity to commit crime; something the researchers estimated costs between $2bn and $4bn p.a. It is thought that ADHD affects between 2-10% of schoolchildren in the U.S. It is far more prevalent in boys than in girls and is common among close relatives suggesting that genes play a part in causing it.